i am seriously wondering why people are not getting fiio x5??
its better in sound department and has a good respectable software too according to reviews.
imho walkman is way too overpriced,,due to puny battery and weak processor it cannot be effectively used as an android device anyways so whats the point of getting it when better options are available at lesser price points?
What are you basing this conclusion on?
I have the f886 and the Fiio X5 in front of me and the sq is quite comparable, I personally prefer the sq of the f886 with a slight eq.
You mention the weak processor in the f886 but even with this weak processor the responsiveness is light years ahead of the Fiio X5.
Considering the price I am personally disappointed with the battery life, they could have put a higher capacity battery in there but it isn't too bad, I have it in airplane mode most of the time. The battery life is nowhere near the figures sony has quoted for the f886. Also materials used aren't too great, it is made out of cheap plastic, not very good compared to the competition. The lack of a memory card slot is ridiculous for an audiophile dap at this price considering even a sansa clip has one. The amp is also a tad weak but I can use it fine with most of my iems and headphones that don't require a huge amount of power. I hope sony addresses these issues on their next generation of daps and we'll get a killer product.
All that being said I really like the f886, I didn't when I got it but I do now.
On the positive side, it's really light, quite responsive, has a nice screen, has the flexibility of android and it sounds quite nice, excellent sounding actually, this is the direction audiophile daps should take imho.
I'm pretty sure Fiio will release further firmware updates improving the sound and optimizing the ui as much as they can on the X5 like they did with the X3, it should pull out ahead then but as it is now the f886 is quite viable as an alternative.